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Hearing restored

Winter 2013

Cochlear implant gives the gift of sound

As a healthy and active infant, Monika Coletta appeared to be developing like any other child, recognizing her parents’ faces and responding to their visual cues. It wasn’t until she was nearly nine months old when her parents began to suspect there was a problem with her hearing.

“My parents noticed that when my back was turned I didn’t react when they called my name or when other loud sounds happened in the background,” recalls Coletta. “It was at that time that they took me to see an audiologist.”

Officially diagnosed with a severe bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, Coletta was fitted with hearing aids and sound arrived to her world the week before her first birthday when they were switched on for the first time. In the same week she began auditory verbal therapy with community-based Auditory Verbal Therapist, Janet Henry, and words quickly and easily followed.

Coletta went on to attend junior kindergarten in a regular school setting, learning at a level on-par with her classmates. Unfortunately, things began to unravel for her midway through the following year. Despite her hearing aids being turned up to the maximum setting, her speech was changing, her hearing was rapidly declining and her frustration with not being able to hear like everyone else was increasing.

It was at this time that her audiologist suggested they look into cochlear implants. Exhaustive research by her mother would lead to an appointment with the cochlear implant program at London Health Sciences Centre’s University Hospital.

After an initial consultation, Coletta was scheduled for a pre-implant assessment with LHSC Audiologist Kim Zimmerman. It would take nearly two months before they received the news that Coletta qualified as a candidate and a date for surgery was scheduled.

On June 21, 1999, under the skilled hands of Dr. Lorne Parnes, LHSC otolaryngologist and cochlear implant program director, a seven-year-old Coletta underwent the two-hour surgery to successfully implant the internal component of the device. Four weeks later the cochlear implant was turned on and programmed for the first time.

“I remember crying the moment it happened,” says Coletta. “The hearing aids had picked up basic sounds, but nothing comparable to what a cochlear implant picks up. Even though my brain hadn’t completely adjusted to exactly what I was hearing, I knew that I could hear more than I ever had before.”

While the transition to hearing felt overwhelming at times, it was also incredibly exciting.

Coletta fondly recalls, “I distinctly remember hearing the first sound that I didn’t know. It was a crispy fall day and we were outside and I had my whole family stop what they were doing so I could figure out where the sound was coming from. As we all looked around to find something unusual on the ground or in the sky we finally landed on our family dog who was panting. I had no idea that a dog’s panting made a sound and I remember thinking how wonderful that was.”

She had always felt vibrations of the car as it was driving and of the fridge motor kicking on but was amazed to learn that different sounds accompanied these vibrations. To help make sense of the sounds she was learning, Coletta continued auditory verbal therapy.

Today Coletta is a well-spoken 20-year-old business student at Fanshawe College and a world without sound is a distant memory. She has high hopes for her future, which centres on plans to help others.

“I used to spend a lot of time worrying about being different and what other people would think about my implant – if they’d judge me. But over the years I’ve realized that it’s not worth worrying about; I can just choose to surround myself with supportive people who accept me as I am and I’m determined to help others understand that too. People need to know that they are amazing just the way they are.”

Coletta continues to return for annual appointments at LHSC with Zimmerman to review and adjust the programming of her implant.

“It’s really special that we get to form long-term relationships with our patients,” says Zimmerman. “I’ve had the pleasure of watching her grow from a young child who was frustrated by her inability to hear and communicate like everyone else to a thoughtful, intelligent, confident woman who is using her experience to help others become accepting of the things that make them different. It’s moments like these that really solidify why we do what we do.”

What makes someone a candidate for a cochlear implant?

Whether or not a person is a candidate for a cochlear implant depends on a number of factors including the type of hearing loss, degree of hearing loss and whether or not there are factors that would preclude them from having surgery (medical problems) or anatomical problems related to the ear. Generally cochlear implants will benefit individuals that have a sensorineural hearing loss causing deafness in both ears, are healthy enough to withstand surgery and are without anatomical problems within the ear which would prevent the device from being inserted.

A rich history of cochlear implants

Last year London Health Sciences Centre celebrated the 25th anniversary of its cochlear implant program. To date, the team has changed the lives of close to 500 children, teens and adults with severe hearing loss.

“To be able to give a deaf person the ability to hear is such an honour and a privilege,” says Dr. Lorne Parnes, LHSC otolaryngologist and cochlear implant program director.

LHSC is one of just 13 centres in Canada performing these delicate procedures and the only facility in Ontario with a combined adult and paediatric cochlear implant program.

The team at LHSC shares their expertise with other cochlear implant teams around the world as the only Canadian member of Hearring, an international consortium of cochlear implant centres of excellence.

What does an audiologist do?

An audiologist is a health-care professional that specializes in identifying, treating and monitoring those with hearing loss.

The role of an audiologist can vary. At London Health Sciences Centre, the role of an audiologist goes beyond the technical aspect of programing and maintaining hearing aids, implants and other related equipment. Audiologists also act similarly to case managers, treating the same patients from their first visit where they conduct pre-assessment testing through post-implant follow-up. They also work with patients and families to make sure they know how to put the appropriate supports in place at home, at school or in the community.

What is a cochlear implant?

A cochlear implant is a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a person who is deaf. The device works by artificially stimulating the hearing nerve directly through a series of tiny electronic shocks. It bypasses all the structures that are normally responsible for transmitting sound vibrations from outer ear to the hearing nerve.

Learn more about how a cochlear implant works in the following video with LHSC Doctor of Audiology Kim Zimmerman.

Community Support

In September 2008, the Thomas and Dorothy Allison Clinic at LHSC’s University Hospital officially opened in support of our hospital’s otology/neurotology program. The clinic was named in recognition of the generous support of Tom Allison and his late wife Dorothy, whose donations to London Health Sciences Foundation have exceeded $1 million.

Thomas Allison suffered severe hearing loss as a result of Menieres Disease and in 2000, at the age of 75, he received a cochlear implant that reconnected him to the world by restoring his ability to hear. Since that time, he has continued to support the work of Dr. Lorne Parnes in order to help other patients receive the life-changing gift of hearing.

“With the generous support that both Tom and Dorothy have shown over the years, we have a world-class ear clinic and operating room. We see patients not only from southwestern Ontario, but from all parts of the province and the country,” says Dr. Parnes. “In addition to cochlear implant surgery, my partner Dr. Sumit Agrawal and I offer other types of treatments and surgery to restore hearing, treatment for chronic ear conditions such as complicated ear infections and cholesteatoma, treatment of advanced skull base tumours such as acoustic neuromas and treatment for facial nerve disorders. But most of all, we are recognized for treating various inner ear conditions that cause vertigo, the most common of which is benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, also known as BPPV.”